Roses and Miseries
by Kuribayashi
Summary: Even though Cinder wasn't touching her anymore, she still felt as if the singer's hands were not just on her neck or chin, but all over her. Falling Petals/Cinderruby. RWBY Rock AU. One Shot.


**Roses and Miseries**

With a final and triumphant strum of her red electric guitar, Ruby Rose listened with closed eyes as the sound of cheers began to build. Strengthening in volume as the note from her guitar began to fade, she could sense in her gut the anticipation emanating by the hundreds in front of her. Seizing the right moment, she then abruptly cut off the final note of her final song, triggering an explosion of applause and cheers. Now opening her eyes to take in the sight before her, the guitarist took a moment as she bathed in the spotlights that were trained on her. Then with a grin, she grabbed the microphone with both hands and threw a clenched fist into the air.

"My name is Ruby Rose! Be sure to remember that name!"

Taking a few more moments to bask in the light, she knowingly ignored the coordinator who stood just out of sight at the side of the stage, motioning frantically for her to get off. But only when satisfied did she casually drop the microphone onto the stage floor before heading off, pushing her way past the flustered coordinator just in time as the emcee's voice roared to life on the venue's many speakers.

"All right ladies and gentlemen! Give it up once again for Ruby Rose! We'll be back in five minutes for tonight's prime event! Get ready for the beautiful, the alluring, the one and only-"

"-We're good to go!" a coordinator said as he directed a group of technicians with props and equipment in hand.

As Ruby walked through the door that connected the side of the stage to the preparation halls in the back, the voices of the emcee and fans were quickly replaced with the buzz of coordinators and technicians as they raced to prepare the next setup.

Nonchalantly making her way through the crowd, she let herself into the private green room that was set aside for her, closing the door behind her. With a happy sigh, she laid her guitar into its case and then took a seat onto one of the swivel chairs in front of the mirrors. Not bothering to take off her shoes, she then propped her feet up onto the table as she reached into her sleeveless jacket's inner pocket. Pulling out a yellow envelope, she grinned when she opened it again, revealing a large wad of Lien.

"What a night," she said as she pushed the envelope back into place. As she closed her eyes to relax, two soft knocks came at the door. Ignoring it, she simply shifted into a more comfortable position. When three more knocks came, this time louder, she let out a frustrated sigh. "Go away," she called out. Immediately the sound of the knob twisting and the door being forcefully opened followed, causing Ruby to almost fall out of her chair. "What the hell did I just-" Ruby scowled, but stopped mid-sentence when she locked eyes with a pair of glowing amber eyes. Leaning against the frame of the door with crossed arms stood a woman in her mid-twenties. The woman sported jet-black hair, a number of piercings, and intricate tattoo around her neck.

"May I have a word with you?" she asked, the tone of her voice soft and calming.

Ruby reached into her jacket, pushed the envelope of Lien deeper into her pocket, and then hopped off of her chair. "Who are you?" she asked without a smile.

"Who am I?" the woman asked before closing her eyes as she let out a chuckle that bordered on becoming a giggle. Her eyes then opened and her smile disappeared. "Adorable," she said darkly, completely throwing the guitarist off guard. Forcefully kicking the door closed with her foot, she strode towards Ruby and grabbed hold of the collar to her shirt with her right hand and began to drag her.

"Hey, what the fuck!" Ruby shouted as she was shoved against the wall, but was then silenced as the woman pressed her left forearm against the guitarist's throat.

"Will you be a good girl now and listen to what I have to say?" the woman asked, her voice returning back to its previous charming tone. When Ruby struggled to protest, the force against her neck only increased.

"Okay, okay!" Ruby struggled to say, her face turning bright red. The chokehold was then released and she lurched downwards to cough, her body craving breath.

Ruby then felt a single finger against her chin that gently brought her head back up and into the close gaze of the woman before her. "You must be joking when you ask 'Who are you?'"

Still feeling lightheaded, Ruby felt her gaze dropping once more, her eyes taking notice of the woman's bridge, septum, and labret piercings. "N-No I'm not. I don't know who you are."

"Hmm, well that _is_ a problem since you are playing at _my_ gig," the woman said with a smirk.

"W-What?"

Pulling her finger away from Ruby's chin, the woman used the same hand to reach into her own inner pocket to retrieve a small pamphlet. On it, front and center, was none other than the woman herself. In a staged photograph, she lay among a pool of red flower petals and pressed seductively against her breasts was a microphone. Beneath it in a beautiful black and red calligraphic font read _Cinder Fall & the Miseries, 7:00 PM at The Remnant._ Further down in a smaller and less attractive font read _Opened by Ruby Rose._

"Oh shit," Ruby grumbled as the realization set in.

"Cinder Fall. 'Be sure to remember that name _,'"_ the lead singer said with an emphasis around the phrase Ruby had just used. Following her hand as she slipped the pamphlet back into her inner pocket, Ruby took notice of the flame tattoos that sat atop of Cinder's very noticeable cleavage. She blinked several times.

"I know your kind," said Cinder, her words ending with a certain tic to them. Ruby's gaze was pulled back up to the speaker's eyes as she continued. "Hotshots who throw their weight around, thinking that they're the kings of the world." She then leaned in closer and only stopped when their eyes were aligned and lips were almost touching. "Young…proud…" Frozen in place, Ruby watched helplessly as Cinder flashed a sultry smile as she casually lowered her gaze down at Ruby's chest, and after a beat, looked her straight in the eyes again. "…exposed."

Ruby felt a spike in her heartbeat. Already fluttering far faster than when she was on stage, she now felt something she couldn't decipher. In addition to her heartbeat aflutter, her vision fuzzy, palms sweaty, mind adrift, her insides were especially tense and warm. Even though Cinder wasn't touching her anymore, she still felt as if the singer's hands were not just on her neck or chin, but all over her.

"What do you want from me?" Ruby whispered unevenly, the effects of her heartbeat coming through her speech.

Another smile. "A little white bird told me that you were the reason why the coordinators and technicians tasked with setting up for my band and I were slightly delayed. And in this business, seconds can be the difference between wild success and crushing disaster. So the next time you see a coordinator ask you do to something, I hope that you won't be as rude as you were tonight."

"But-"

"Uh uh uh," Cinder quipped as she put an index finger over Ruby's lips. "Don't think, obey." Slowly dragging her finger downwards against Ruby's lips, Cinder then pulled away and put the same finger to her own lips. "I have to go now. Can't leave my band and fans waiting. But I hope you took heed to what I just said to you. Did you?"

Ruby quickly nodded.

"Wonderful." Extending her middle finger outwards alongside her index, Cinder then pressed her lips against the both of them before blowing a sensual kiss to Ruby. "See you around, rookie."

Then like a crashing and momentous end to one of the most ecstatic and exciting solos she's ever heard, their conversation came to an end as Cinder left the green room as quickly and mysterious as she came. The sound of muffled cheers in the distance soon intensified.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

A regrettably late birthday present for tumblr-user _Majisuka_. She draws wonderful and expressive RWBY fanart so if you're on tumblr, I highly recommend checking her out.

"Roses and Miseries" is the only thing I could come up with for now. I'm not too fond of it so I will most likely change it in the future when I come up with something better. About the story, it was really challenging to write for as I have never written Cinder or the RWBY Rock AU before. So trying to capture the essences of the character's canon personalities and also mending them to this AU was definitely very difficult. But on the other hand this experience was also very interesting and rewarding because Falling Petals/Cinderruby is a very interesting ship in my opinion. The psychology, chemistry, and dynamics behind it is something that I could compare to that of Sephora (Blake/Roman) and I think that once one puts more thought into it, it can become a goldmine of material and potential.

Random facts: Ruby is around 21 in this while Cinder is around 26. The "little white bird" that Cinder referred to is Weiss, who works as a coordinator at _The Remnant._

 **Anyways,** **please, please, please** **leave a review. Your feedback is both greatly appreciated and crucial.** Even though this is a one-shot, I still do welcome and appreciate any written feedback or critiques.


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